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Uber is under seige on two separate fronts today, as police in South Korea have arrested a pair of its executives, according to ZDNet. At the same time, Le Monde is reporting that French Police have raided Uber's offices in Paris. In Korea, the situation is a bit more serious: Seoul police charged the company's brand manager, other employees and drivers for allegedly breaking the nation's transport laws. The city previously declared that Uber's services are illegal and vowed to ban it, going so far as to issue a warrant for CEO Travis Kalanick and offer rewards to anyone who reported on it. The company is also being probed over claims it failed to register its car-hailing app with South Korea's wireless regulator. It's not clear what kind of charges the employees face.

2014's been a year to forget for Travis Kalanick, but since there's still a week to go before 2015, there's one more nasty surprise waiting for him. South Korea has indicted Uber's CEO on charges of operating an illegal taxi service in the country, which could see him slapped with an $18,000 fine, or two years in jail. According to Yonhap News, Uber, along with its rental agency, MK Korea, has broken local laws specifically preventing car-rental businesses from operating as a passenger-transport service.

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CrimeMK KoreaSeoulSouth KoreaTravis KalanickUberWed, 24 Dec 2014 07:25:00 -050021|21120831http://www.tuaw.com/2014/10/28/korean-press-miffed-at-lack-of-flagship-apple-store/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
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South Korea really loves Apple's new iPhones. The company managed to outpace pre-orders of the Galaxy Note 4 -- which comes from South Korea-based Samsung -- more than three times over. Unfortunately, the South Korean press hasn't been quite as charmed by Apple, and as Patently Apple points out, some reports coming out of the country are taking an oddly envious tone in regards to other countries getting official Apple Store treatment.

"Apple announced on Oct. 26 that it is going to set up 25 more Apple Stores in China within two years in addition to the 15 already open," reads one report. "However, the company is not running any Apple Store in Korea, although it has done business in the country for five years," it continues, adding "Even Zimbabwe has one."

The reporter cites an unnamed "industry insider" who claims that Apple would only consider a store in a couple of locations in South Korea, and that the cost of renting a space is a key factor in Apple not having set up shop in the country yet. The report wraps up by questioning "when Apple is going to take proper care of Korean customers."

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applepresssouth koreaworldTue, 28 Oct 2014 15:00:00 -040016|20985111http://www.tuaw.com/2014/10/27/apples-new-iphones-outsell-the-galaxy-note-4-in-samsungs-home/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
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In a strange twist, Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are outpacing the sales of the Galaxy Note 4 on Samsung's home turf in South Korea. According to the Wall Street Journal, pre-orders for the new iPhone models reached 100,000 units on the first day, as compared to 30,000 for the Note 4.

Sales were brisk at carriers KT and LG Uplus, with the providers processing more than 70,000 orders in the first 30 minutes of ordering. Rival carrier SK Telecom failed to disclose its sales figures, but confirmed it had sold through its first two batches of inventory and has opened up reservations for a third.

This jump in iPhone sales may only be the beginning, with analysts such as Lee Seung-woo of IBK Securities predicting the new iPhones will generate five times the sales of the Note 4. Samsung is the current leader in the Korean smartphone market with 63 percent market share as compared to Apple's 6 percent.

Long a leader in the large phone category, Samsung lost its competitive edge following the launch of the larger 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in September 2014 with record first weekend sales of 10 million.

LG has to be pleased by the overall reception to the G3, from press and consumers alike. That said, perhaps in an effort to keep the momentum going, the electronics company just launched the G3 A, a smaller and slightly lower-specced version of its popular flagship handset, the G3. This isn't to say LG's new, 5.2-inch G3 A, which will be available in South Korea through SK telecom, is by any means a dud, as it does sport some pretty good features of its own. The smartphone comes with a 1080p screen, a Snapdragon 800 processor (2.6GHz) alongside 2GB RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, Android KitKat and, best of all, the same 13-megapixel camera found on the G3. Of course, growing the G3 family is nothing novel to LG -- the company announced the G3 Beat recently and, apparently, there's also a G3 Stylus on the way.%Gallery-slideshow212654%

South Korean parents can rest a little easier tonight knowing they will no longer be responsible for unauthorized purchases their children have made. The Korea Federal Trade Commission of South Korea has ordered Apple and Google to change their App Store refund policies to make it easier for consumers to get refunds from the tech giants.

Following a series of requests from a public organization called the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, the FTC moved to correct what they viewed as unfair sales policies in the respective stores. In its press release the Korea Fair Trade Commission expressed its wishes to see the ruling spread around the globe. Hwang Won-chul, the KFTC's head of Adhesion Contract Division had this to say.

The FTC's corrective orders will become benchmark cases for other countries, which face growing customer complaints over unfair provisions in contracts of mobile webstore operators.

According to The Korea Herald, Apple is implementing the refund changes to the store itself, while Google will create a customer refund system built on the suggestions of developers. Apple will send a notice to users when it updates the terms in its contract.

On the heels of this victory, the Citizen's Coalition for Economic Justice has already set their sights on Apple once again. According to a statement by Yoon Chul-hwan of the CCEJ provided to the Korea Herald, the next target is repairs to customer phones.

Currently, users are not able to get their original phones back from repair shops after they have their phones repaired. We will file a complaint against it (Apple) to see if that is also an unfair sales practice.

There's a fine line between being fashionably late and arriving just as the party's over, which is the problem Europe suffered when it came to implementing 4G mobile networks. That's why the EU is now teaming up with South Korea to co-operate in developing 5G in the hope of getting back to the front of the line. In addition to sharing cash and know-how on developing the standard, both parties will harmonize radio spectrums to avoid the problems with roaming that were suffered in the race to implement LTE. Of course, no-one believes that a standard for 5G will be ready for at least another year, but there's a hope that maybe Europe won't be so far behind the US as it was last time.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.

In a move that we can only hope inspires other mobile regulators, the South Korean government has struck a major blow against Android bloatware. Yonhap News reports that Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MISP) is bringing the hammer down on preinstalled Android apps, introducing new guidelines that will enable users to delete them. Carriers won't be forced to make apps related to WiFi, user settings, NFC or an app store removable, but even with core services excluded, it puts almost 60 apps installed by the country's three biggest providers at risk. Samsung and LG won't escape the judgment either, with more than half of their 40 default apps facing a less-than-certain future.

The ministry said preinstalled apps are an "inconvenience" to users and cause "unfair competition" between operators and carriers, so it asked them to offer detailed information to users on how much storage their preinstalled apps take up. It also intends to apply the same rules to Google's suite of apps and services, which includes Gmail and Hangouts, although the regulator is still in talks with the search giant. Samsung, LG, SK Telecom and others have until April before the rules come into effect, which could mean Korean users will be able to tweak apps installed on their new Galaxy S 5, should the device launch in the coming months.

Why is that number so surprising? South Korean manufacturers have long had an advantage in their home country, and even now Samsung tops the market with 60 percent of all smartphones and tablets sold in the country. Two other Android device manufacturers based in South Korea -- LG and Pantech -- account for another 25 percent of the market. Apple comes in at 14 percent, while all other Android manufacturers account for just a tiny 1 percent sliver of the market.

Flurry's data show some other interesting facts. The company found that phablets -- larger than a smartphone, but smaller than most tablets -- were quite popular in South Korea, accounting for 41 percent of device sales. In the rest of the world, phablets only make up 7 percent of the market.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

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Appledaily updateDailyUpdateFranceiPhoneLTEOS X MavericksOsXMavericksSouth KoreaSouthKoreaMon, 01 Jul 2013 23:45:00 -040016|20644516http://www.tuaw.com/2013/07/01/south-korea-apple-reportedly-in-iphone-talks/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2013/07/01/south-korea-apple-reportedly-in-iphone-talks/http://www.tuaw.com/2013/07/01/south-korea-apple-reportedly-in-iphone-talks/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#commentsThe Korea Times is reporting that Apple has been talking with South Korean based SK Telecom about the possibility of introducing an iPhone that would support its recently introduced LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network.

"SK Telecom is approaching Apple to put our LTE-A technology on the upcoming iPhone 5S. We are in the middle of negotiations," said an SK Telecom executive, requesting anonymity.

...

Because Korea has recently seen a huge demand for devices supporting high-speed networks, Apple intends to use Korea as the litmus test to gauge the marketability of LTE-A technology before making inroads into China, according to industry sources.

The report notes that Samsung recently introduced an LTE-A-compatible Galaxy S 4 device in South Korea and that SK Telecom anticipates a number of other LTE-A-compatible devices to hit the market over the next few months.

Now as for how fast LTE-A is, well let's just say that it's blazing. SK Telecom said that its LTE-A network can support data transfer rates of up to 150 Mbps, about twice as fast as LTE speeds in the US and 10 times as fast as 3G.

Hang around these pages long enough and you're bound to come across Pantech, the South Korean purveyor of everything from giant 1080p handsets down to... giant 720p handsets. Samsung has noticed this rising star too and, so says Yonhap News, has now made a $50 million investment in the smaller company in return for a 10 percent stake. Implicit in that is that the Korean government has allowed Samsung's ever-expanding influence to infiltrate a potential rival, since Pantech is now the No. 3 phone maker in that country and only Qualcomm and a state-run bank possess larger stakes than Samsung's. As a result, the acquisition could have an anti-competitive aura to it -- but then, Pantech has actually been struggling of late, not least with large debts, and it has relied on big backers to bail it out.

There's obviously something about gadgets dressed in white livery that attracts plenty of consumers, and thus it shouldn't come as a surprise to see Samsung introduce a bleached model of its own ATIV Smart PC. Unfortunately for some, however, the maker of the Galaxy line is keeping this particular launch local, with the white ATIV Smart PC set to be an exclusive to South Koreans -- well, at least for the time being. Regardless, Samsung's Windows 8 hybrid remains unchanged otherwise, meaning there's still that same 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 display, a 1.8GHz, dual-core Clover Trail processor, 4,800 mAh battery and 64GB of onboard storage. The frosted ATIV device is on sale now for 1,090,000 won (around $1,000) -- but, hey, because we know there are likely would-be buyers outside of South Korea, we have a gallery past the jump to show what's being missed.

The system usually works through large posters of fake store shelves, all labeled with phone-readable codes. When you see items you desire, just point, shoot and order. Customers receive an automated message that confirms the purchase and work with vendors to iron down delivery details.

Now, China is joining the virtual storefront revolution. According to Springwise, Unlimited Yihaodian plans to add ecommerce to public spaces, with a virtual virtual store experience. (Yes, you read that right.) The store will actually project over the real world, adding another layer of virtual into the virtual shopping experience. Retailers will be able to cut down on physical plant costs by skipping bricks and mortar and creating a straight path from warehouses to the consumer.

It sounds like this may still be proof-of-concept project (if any Chinese readers can figure anything further out, please let us know!) but we look forward to seeing it pan out.

Right now, here in Denver, it's 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Heading to a public square to play shopping games with my phone doesn't sound nearly as appealing as competitive shopping in a warm, enclosed subway. In the TUAW newsroom, we're having a debate whether this new option is more weird than cool or more cool than weird.

What do you think? Drop a note in the comments and share your opinion.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

As part of its Google-led overhaul to become a lean and mean smartphone outfit, Motorola is pulling out of South Korea next year. Around 540 jobs will be lost, with 60-or-so staffers being offered a chance to relocate to the company's R&D departments elsewhere. It's not the first high-profile departure from the country this year, after HTC found it difficult to compete with the local superpowers -- and we can't imagine it'll be the last.

Apple continues to roll out the iPhone 5 globally and announced on Monday that the handset will land in 51 additional countries in December. The iPhone 5 will hit South Korea on Friday, December 7 and land in 50 countries, including China, on December 14 and 21. The full list of December 14 launch countries includes:

Last year, the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) told us there were five billion mobile subscriptions worldwide at the close of 2010, and now it's reporting that at the end of 2011, that figure hit a staggering six billion. China and India account for one billion a piece, and it brings us ever closer to having the equivalent of one subscription for every person on the planet. (According to the CTIA, there are already more cellular plans in the US -- around 322 million -- than there are inhabitants.) In a stat-heavy release from the ITU, it also ranked the most advanced telecoms countries, with South Korea placing first, Japan eighth and countries in Europe filling the remaining spots.

Interestingly, the number of global mobile broadband subscriptions now outnumbers fixed ones by two to one, and mobile internet services showed the biggest growth rates in 2011: 40% worldwide and 78% in developing markets. The ITU attributes the latter figure to the relatively high price of fixed access in these countries, and the increasing availability of mobile alternatives. The CTIA also commented on mobile broadband use, reporting that from July 2011 to June this year, Americans consumed 104 percent more data -- no doubt due, in part, to people taking advantage of expanding 4G coverage. As usual, we've given you the cheat sheet, so if you'd like the full reports and have got a thing for statistics, there's plenty more in the source links below.

Apple and Samsung have been recreating the Cold War through their own mutually assured destruction policy, and nowhere is that more apparent than their Pyrrhic victories in South Korea. For Apple, however, the pain will be just a little easier to bear. A Seoul court has confirmed that it's staying the ban on older iPads and iPhones until Apple can complete the appeals process; the Cupertino crew won't face the full penalty unless the appeals court upholds the verdict. Samsung hasn't yet asked for a similar pause on a ban covering some of its Android devices, though, which could lead to at least a momentarily lopsided situation in Samsung's home country. It's nonetheless a brief reprieve in a war that sadly won't end anytime soon.

On the other hand, Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy S and Galaxy S II -- all of which are also covered by the August 24 ruling -- are still on the ban list. A Samsung spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company had "no comment" about whether it would file its own request to delay the South Korean sales ban.

It was pretty much inevitable, and true to its promise, Samsung has announced the availability of Android 4.1 for the Galaxy S III. Now before you get too excited, it appears that the upgrade applies only to the SHW-M440S variant, which is specific to Samsung's home turf in South Korea. Nonetheless, if the translation is correct, the new Jelly Bean release is said to bring usability improvements to the home screen, along with the ability to pause movies during recording and a smart rotation feature to the camera. Samsung's Kies software is specifically mentioned in the announcement post, although it looks as if an over-the-air install may be possible as well. Hopefully this news is a sign that certification for the global model and its domestic counterparts is just around the corner.

If Google-lovin' Koreans were a little jealous after seeing Eric Schmidt turn up in Japan with a Nexus 7-shaped gift under his arm, they needn't be. It looks like the Executive Chairman brought another one along with him on his Asian travels. It wasn't just the hardware that came along for the ride either, with The Next Web reporting that the firm also made movies available in the country's edition of Google Play. The Korean asking price will be a reported KRW 299,000 (about $267) for the 16GB edition, a smidgen less than its neighbor's (¥19,800 / $255). We suspect, though, not quite enough to warrant a ferry ride.

Update: As many of you have noted, the currency conversion actually favors the Japanese price. Updated to reflect that.